Meet some of the remarkable women and men in The

City College of New York Class of 2018. The students

chosen for this year’s Great Grads excel in the classroom,
have personal stories that inspire us, and illustrate
the transformative power of the City Experience. They
were nominated by their CCNY mentors and represent
all schools and divisions of the college.

Among them are graduates poised to make great

contributions in fields as varied as biomedical
engineering, Teaching of English to Speakers of Other
Languages (TESOL), medicine and theatre. They are —
and advocate for — asylum seekers; and a formerly
homeless veteran is on the path to law school.

W W W. C C N Y. C U N Y. E D U / G R E AT G R A D S 2 0 1 8
 Fatimah Glenn
Barrie
BA, Political Science
Bell
MArch, Architecture
Colin Powell School of Civic and Bernard and Anne Spitzer School
Global Leadership​ of Architecture
BA, Black Studies
Division of Humanities and the Arts

“There’s a very social

conscious awareness here,
“I’ve been granted the and it’s great because part
opportunity to be part of the danger of being an
of illustrious cohorts on architect is that you can
campus such as S.E.E.D.S. go without having that
and the 100 Black Women: understanding and can ruin
Role Model Program.” a neighborhood or the city.”

A fter graduating with her associate’s degree from

Borough of Manhattan Community College,
Harlem native Fatimah Barrie worked for five years
to ensure she could pay for her bachelor’s degree at The City
College of New York. Her hard work and determination
young girls of color residing in East Harlem and created a
track and field team for an after school program at P.S. 106
in collaboration with the New York Road Runners: Mighty
Milers Program.
R aised by a single mother in Coney Island, Brooklyn,
MArch I major Glenn Bell knew that he wanted
more for himself and strived to make that happen at
The City College of New York. His undergraduate studies in
them in hopes of forging more competent guidelines to
yield a safe, efficient and quality lifestyle for its low-income
residents.

propelled her to the top—graduating Summa Cum Laude
with a 3.9 GPA.
The Political Science and Black Studies double major
attributes her success to her single mother for inspiring her
throughout her college journey. “My mom has been a driving
force pushing me and propelling me forward— she has her
master’s degree from Fordham University in social work,”
said Barrie.
Barrie was elected to the E-Board of The Roosevelt Institute
at The City College of New York in 2017 as their secretary
and has been involved in numerous clubs including The
National Council of Negro Women, the CCNY Outdoors
Club and the Debate Team. She serves as a mentor for
“I’ve been granted the opportunity to be part of illustrious
cohorts on campus such as The Student Empowerment
Engagement Development Series (S.E.E.D.S.) and the
100 Black Women: Role Model Program,” said the recent
inductee of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. “I can recall
the days former teachers told me I would not amount to
much because of lack of interest, yet those doubts are what
led me on this path to excellence.”
After graduating, Barrie plans to take a year off to study
for the LSATs while interning at a law firm or as a legal
assistant. Her passion for teaching, civil rights law and
education reform will help her make Black and ethnic studies
a mandatory requirement for high school students before
going on to college.
architectural technology gave him the opportunity to mentor
his peers, and he set up workshops to help improve their
digital skills as well as tutored them.
“I was in a neighborhood where I couldn’t be a part
of change. Change happened around me, but I had no
involvement in it and that shaped me into getting into this
field because I want to make a difference,” said Bell, whose
goal is to become an architectural innovator.
He completed his senior thesis focusing on “Reinventing
Strategies for New York City Public Housing through a
Socio-Political Lens.” He and his partner wanted to elicit
an ongoing discussion with residents and city officials to
reimagine public housing and the green space that surrounds
“My experience with the professors here has been great;
they’ve instilled in me the social responsibility aspect of
architecture,” said Bell. “There’s a very social conscious
awareness here, and it’s great because part of the danger of
being an architect is that you can go without having that
understanding and can ruin a neighborhood or the city.”
At City College, Bell received a Castagna Foundation
scholarship which sent him to Barcelona, Spain to see how
they have solved their infrastructural problems. His most
recent success is landing a job with Practice for Architecture
and Urbanism (PAU) where he’ll be an Architectural
Designer following a networking opportunity at the college’s
Sciame Lecture Series.

2 3

T he Macaulay Honors College student has always
been interested in the sciences, but Mark Campmier
wanted something interdisciplinary and applied.
City College’s interdisciplinary program in Earth Systems
Sciences and Environmental Engineering allowed him to put
together classes in engineering, architecture, and science, and
to focus on urban environmental issues.
In addition to his classes, he was able to study urban wind
patterns in the Optical Remote Sensing Lab, and research
strategic solutions to create and save clean energy in the
Building Performance Lab. Campmier’s internship as a field
ecologist for the Natural Areas Conservancy allowed him to
collaborate with a diverse team of environmental scientists,
engineers and ecologists to meet the challenges of restoring
and conserving green and blue spaces in the City.
So many paths opened so many doors, but a discussion with
his fellow students crystallized his ambition: he wants to
make a difference in the lives of people around the world
4 5
Mark
Campmier
BE, Earth Systems Sciences and
Environmental Engineering
Grove School of Engineering
Macaulay Honors College at CCNY
“I learned one of the best
lessons of my education:
no matter how smart a
technology is, it means
nothing if users on the
ground do not adapt it as
their own.”
by combating indoor air pollution. Through CCNY’s Zahn
Innovation Center, he and his team designed Rural Ignition
—an affordable, clean cookstove that tackles the health,
environmental and safety hazards faced by millions in
developing nations, where “dirty” technologies cause more
than two million premature deaths annually. Through the
Macaulay Honors College, Campmier was able to put the
cookstove to a real-world test in Sri Lanka.
“I learned one of the best lessons of my education: no matter
how smart a technology is, it means nothing if users on the
ground do not adapt it as their own,” Campmier said. “I
am determined to work to make a difference in the lives of
people through clean energy.”
Rural Ignition went on to win 2nd place in the 2016 Zahn
Social Impact competition. Campmier completed his five-
year engineering degree in four years with a 3.7 GPA, and
will pursue his PhD in Environmental and Civil Engineering.
E dwin Cho graduates with a bachelor’s in mechanical
engineering from the Grove School of Engineering.
The Macaulay Honors College 4-year Merit recipient
has a 3.9 GPA.
In his work at City College, Cho focused on renewable
energy grids using solar and wind technologies for island
communities in the wake of Hurricane Maria. He researched
advanced fluid mechanics and sustainable energy conversion
when not working on advanced vector calculus.
“I wasn’t just attending class to earn my degree,” said Cho. “I
was there to learn and develop a greater understanding of the
world. My professors are brilliant people.”
His experience during study abroad trips to Japan and
China led Cho to want to explore the world before pursuing
graduate school. “I was fascinated by people working on the
Edwin
Cho
BE, Mechanical Engineering
Grove School of Engineering
Macaulay Honors College at CCNY
“Some students were just
like me, some were nothing
like me. There was no place
on this campus where I
didn’t feel welcome.”
same problems globally but in different ways. As an engineer,
it showed me there are multiple ways to approach and solve
problems.”
Unsure what kind of community he would discover at
CCNY, Cho quickly became immersed in a diverse student
body from all walks of life. “Some students were just like
me, some were nothing like me. There was no place on this
campus where I didn’t feel welcome.”
Cho has interned at an architectural firm, drawing and
modelling conceptual designs of hydropower energy
recovery systems. He is also an Assistant Scoutmaster
with the Boy Scouts of America having come late to the
organization as a scout in his teens, and eager to continue
sharing outdoor adventure and commitment to community
service with youngsters in Brooklyn.

Y asmine El Gheur is not only the first member
of her melting pot New York family to graduate
from college, but she’s also CCNY’s Class of 2018
Valedictorian. Her story gets even better. Her academic
success and the opportunities available at CCNY inspired her
mother Kathryn to return to college. She is now a senior at
CCNY majoring in international studies and studio art.
A first generation American from Park Slope, Brooklyn, El
Gheur’s father is a Moroccan immigrant and mom Kathryn
of Colombian/Cuban/Irish-American heritage. El Gheur
is graduating with a BA in art history and a 3.94 GPA.
She received the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship,
which is awarded to talented students from traditionally
underrepresented groups to encourage them to pursue PhDs
in the humanities and social sciences. She plans to earn a
PhD and become an art historian of contemporary North
African and Middle Eastern Art.
6 7
Yasmine
El Gheur
Class of 2018 Valedictorian
BA, Art History
Division of Humanities and the Arts
“CCNY was my gateway to
the world, lifelong friendships,
and new perspectives.”
Among her other honors, the Downer Award for Study
Abroad took her to Paris in summer 2016 to study at the
Sorbonne. The next summer, she was in Rabat learning
Moroccan Arabic. In addition, El Gheur was a City College
Fellowship recipient, winner of the Therese Ralston Connor
Award for Art History, and a CCNY Kaye Scholar. She
interned at the Jewish Museum and The Frick Collection and
participated in the CCNY-Stanford exchange program. It
was at Stanford, in summer 2015, that she began her research
on contemporary Moroccan photographers that would be a
component of her Mellon Mays research project.
El Gheur’s father, meanwhile, has been a big motivator in his
daughter’s academic journey. “He never had the opportunity
to consider college for himself, but has been a constant
source of encouragement, pushing the importance of a
college degree,” said El Gheur. “CCNY was my gateway to
the world, lifelong friendships, and new perspectives.”
H e’s a 55-year-old former Marine, 6-foot-four and
graduating from the Division of Interdisciplinary
Studies at the Center for Worker Education
(CWE) with a 4.0 GPA. If that doesn’t sound compelling
enough, there’s more to John Kopyta’s interesting life story
that’s about to take a new path, thanks to CWE.
The New Jersey native joined the Marine Corps in his teens,
serving four years as a C-130 aircraft electrician at El Toro in
California and in Okinawa. Honorably discharged in 1985,
Kopyta enrolled in the University of South Florida. He left
as a sophomore and worked in construction for the next
20 years before what he calls “the Recession” hit in 2008.
Unemployed, he moved to New York and was hired stacking
shelves in a grocery store. The loss of that job found him
homeless and despondent.
Kopyta spent 11 months in the New York shelter system, but
one shelter run by The Doe Fund gave him a fighting chance.
John
Kopyta
BA, Interdisciplinary Arts & Science
Division of Interdisciplinary Studies
at the Center for Worker Education
“It’s been a great experience.
Without CWE it would have
been very difficult to go back
to school.”
He completed their program “Ready, Willing and Able,”
and was hired as an education and occupational training
associate. Enter CCNY’s CWE, whose mission is to provide
an excellent education to working adults. “The Doe Fund
encouraged me to finish my education and the courses and
times at CWE fit perfectly with my work schedule for adult
students,” said Kopyta. “It’s been a great experience. Without
CWE it would have been very difficult to go back to school –
it’s a great service that City College provides.”
His degree opens up a pathway to law school. He plans a
career in either legal aid or as an environmental lawyer.
Kopyta’s awards include induction into the Alpha Sigma
Lambda and Phi Beta Kappa honor societies. He’s also
received recognition from Assemblymember Jaime Williams
and Governor Cuomo for his community service.

W
English.
hen Nancy Larcher was growing up in Jackson
Heights, her teachers told her Brazilian
immigrant parents not to teach her their native
language Portuguese if they wanted her to learn how to speak
“I was so happy to take three years of Portuguese at City
College and embrace that part of my background,” said
Larcher, a Macaulay Honors College scholar who graduates
as a double major in history and political science.
“Everyone cares so much at City College— super bright
students share a passion to make the world better, and
wonderful professors connect in-class learning to real world
action,” she said. “I am really grateful I spent my four years
here.”
An active advocacy for the LGBTQ and immigrant
communities earned Larcher a Partners for Change
8 9
Nancy
Larcher
BA, Political Science
Colin Powell School of Civic and
Global Leadership
BA, History
Division of Humanities and the Arts
Macaulay Honors College at CCNY
“Everyone cares so much at
City College where super
bright students share a passion
to make the world better.”
fellowship. The one-year program for undergraduate students
interested in developing applied research skills and working
with community organizations led to an internship with
Human Rights First, working closely with asylum seekers.
After graduation, Larcher will work on an oral history project
with other CCNY students through the Clinton Global
Initiative University program. Her ultimate goal is to serve
the public through her research— either as an historian using
oral history as a tool to integrate community organization
with academic research, or as a civil rights attorney.
“Both my parents took ESL in the CUNY system, so they
were thrilled that I would receive my education at City.”
B ronx native Brandon Latorre has always been a
nature activist at heart since his mother instilled
in him a belief that people should make an effort
to preserve nature and improve the natural environment.
With a BS/MS in Biology from The City College of New
York, Latorre will continue his education at Michigan State
University where he’ll pursue a PhD in habitat restoration.
Throughout his time at City College, Latorre participated in
research on ecology and evolution as an Honors Research
Student at City College and as an REU Student at Colby
College in Maine. He also accompanied Biology Professor
David Lohman on a fieldwork expedition to Southeast Asia
to collect butterflies for genetic research.
“The biggest thing I’ll take away from City College is the
diversity— it felt like I was exposed to a million different
Brandon
Latorre
BS/MS, Biology
Division of Science
“The biggest thing I’ll take
away from City College is
the diversity— it felt like
I was exposed to a million
different cultures, and I
really love this institution for
that.”
cultures, and I really love this institution for that,” said
Latorre, who also minored in Jewish studies and creative
writing. “After communicating with people that I’d never met
from completely different backgrounds, I grew extremely
interested in their cultures.”
Although Latorre was ineligible for financial aid, he worked
as a janitor to pay for college; and his acceptance into the
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, the City College
Academy for Professional Preparation, and numerous
scholarships helped lighten the financial burden.
After earning his PhD, Latorre would like to work in
academia as a professor doing research in restoration, for a
non-profit conservancy to preserve natural environments, or
at a government agency helping to restore habitats.

F rom the deserts of Morocco and Jordan, to the
floors of Congress and the UN General Assembly,
Claire Lynch has traveled widely on her academic
journey. And she thanks City College. “CCNY has provided
me avenues to so many different places that I never thought
I would be able to access,” said Lynch, listing internships
and study trips that took her to North Africa, Europe, the
Middle East and the corridors of power in Washington,
D.C. and New York. There were Jewish studies class trips to
Morocco— home of a large Jewish community— and Italy.
A Catholic of Irish-American heritage, she pursued Arabic
in Jordan for six weeks. Lynch also excelled in the United
Nations General Assembly with one of the Colin Powell
School’s highly successful Model UN teams and interned for
Senator Charles Schumer in D.C.
Yet the highlight of her CCNY experience, in her estimation,
was an internship, as a Colin Powell Fellow, at the New
10
Claire
Lynch
BA, Political Science
Colin Powell School of Civic and
Global Leadership
BA, Jewish Studies
Division of Humanities and the Arts
Macaulay Honors College at CCNY
“CCNY has provided me
avenues to so many different
places that I never thought I
would be able to access.”
York-based Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect.
The nonprofit’s mission is genocide prevention. There Lynch
attended briefings and meetings at the UN, addressing mass
atrocities in central Africa. At one meeting, she met then UN
secretary general Ban Ki Moon.
Along the way, Lynch, who’s graduating with a 3.9 GPA,
earned top honors for academic excellence. She’s a Macaulay
Goldsmith Scholar, a program that prepares students for
graduate education. She was named a Truman Fellow in
her junior year, joining a highly selective national program
for future leaders in public service. Lynch’s latest award, a
Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grant, will take her to
Madrid this fall for a year teaching in the Spanish capital’s
bilingual education system. An MA in international peace
and security, and law school, are on the radar for the Bayville,
Long Island, resident after that.
Irving
Mota
MS, Teaching English to Speakers
of Other Languages (TESOL)
School of Education
“The faculty and
administration at City
College told me, ‘You are at
the right place. We’ve never
dealt with this before but
we will find a way, we will
figure it out.’”
I rving Mota graduates with a master’s in Teaching
English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from
the School of Education, having persevered in the face
of governmental challenges and natural disasters.
Born in Mexico, Mota grew up in New York’s Hudson Valley,
undocumented and unsure of his future. But he didn’t let that
stop him from pursuing his dreams or eventually sharing his
story in Dr. Kleyn’s documentary, “Living Undocumented:
High School, College and Beyond”.
In 2012, while completing a bachelor’s at City College in
bilingual childhood education with cum laude honors, Mota Fortunately, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
was unsure if he would be able to work as a teacher due to his (DACA) was announced shortly after his 2012 graduation
undocumented status. “I went to speak to the department, and Mota became a bilingual teacher at PS 75 in Manhattan.
to Professor Tatyana Kleyn, and opened up about being
undocumented.” In 2015, Mota moved to Puerto Rico with his husband
and pursued his master’s degree as an independent study
Professor Kleyn, along with the faculty and administration at under Professor Kleyn. He was on a Skype call for a class
CCNY, worked with Mota and gave him confidence. “They when Hurricane Maria hit and changed life for everyone.
told me, ‘You are at the right place. We’ve never dealt with Nevertheless, he completed his studies and currently teaches
this before but we will find a way, we will figure it out.’ They first grade on the recovering island.
knew I was passionate about teaching and that I wanted this.”
11

S erosh Naeem was at Yonkers High School when, in
her quest to pursue a medical career, she felt the lure
of the Sophie Davis Biomedical Education Program.
It was the campus’ diversity that she was drawn to. “So many
languages and different cultural events— you can learn
about so many different people,” she said. Her family had fled
religious persecution in Pakistan when she was three because
they were from a minor Islamic sect.
At CCNY, she passionately embraced diversity and this was
reflected in her volunteerism— whether at the Bronx Muslim
Community Center tutoring young people and empowering
young women— or at the Best Friends Pet Adoption
Center as a pet foster. On campus, her activities included
sitting on the Student Life Activities Program Committee,
and planning campus events for celebrations such as Black
History Month and Hispanic History Month. In preparation
for her medical studies, Naeem was a research assistant for
12
Serosh
Naeem
BS, Biomedical Sciences
CUNY School of Medicine
“So many languages and
different cultural events—
you can learn about so many
different people.”
more than two years in Dr. John Martin’s neuroscience lab.
She studied brain and spinal cord injuries. Her interest in
medicine was sparked by the death of her grandmother
who’d remained in Pakistan. She died in 2012 of ovarian
cancer. “I could not help but wonder how my grandmother’s
health would have been different if she lived with us in the
United States. Her death still angers me. However, in that
anger, I have found my purpose.”
Naeem, who is graduating with a 4.0 GPA, will remain at
CCNY as a member of the second cohort of the CUNY
School of Medicine. Her interest is OB/GYN and she
hopes to serve minority, underserved communities in the
Bronx. Her undergraduate honors include the Sophie Davis
Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence, a Rudin Research
Fellowship and membership in the National Society of
Leadership and Success.
A s a student at Townsend Harris High School in
Queens, Jin Won “Lucius” Seo learned about
Harris’ role in founding the Free Academy of the
City of New York, the original incarnation of City College.
“It was mesmerizing to me that there could be a college
that offered education to people who weren’t ordinarily
considered deserving,” remembered Seo, who emigrated to
the U.S. from South Korea as a child. “It’s one thing to have
greatness thrust upon you. But to experience a place where
anyone can become great? I wanted to explore how miracles
happen at CCNY.”
Almost every step of his academic career involved happy
accidents. When a music class he was enrolled in was
canceled, he quickly picked up a basic theatre production
and design class to fulfill the requirements for his Macaulay
Honors College scholarship. “I was assigned wardrobe for
‘Richard III’. When I received an email about the rehearsal
Jin Won
“Lucius”
Seo
BA, Theatre
Division of Humanities and the Arts
Macaulay Honors College at CCNY
“I wanted to explore how
miracles happen at CCNY.”
schedule, I showed up to the first one, not realizing my
attendance wasn’t required. The cast was surprised a crew
member came to the rehearsal. But they welcomed me and I
attended every one after that.”
He has acted in, stage managed and directed productions at
City College and managed the CCNY Theatre Club. Last
summer, he earned a fellowship at the London Academy of
Music and Dramatic Arts. “It’s the community that I love in
theatre,” said Seo. “Theatre is a people business and I enjoy
making art together.”
Seo will be the costume designer for an off-Broadway
musical this summer and has offers in theatre education
and stage managing as well. He plans to discover the area of
theatre he will ultimately concentrate on before he applies to
graduate school next year. “The education I received here is
phenomenal.”
13

B orn in Mexico, Luz Maria Valdiviezo came to New
York City as an infant with her parents. From the
beginning, her intellectual gifts and exceptional work
ethic made her stand out in New York City’s public schools.
And this May she graduates with a Bachelor of Chemical
Engineering, a GPA of 3.8, and an unlimited future.
Valdiviezo came to CCNY as a SEEK (Search for Education,
Elevation and Knowledge) student, and almost immediately
wanted to give back to the program that helped give her
the confidence to pursue engineering; she was a SEEK
tutor for three years. Her stellar academic performance
places her in the top five of the sixty students graduating in
chemical engineering this year, and enabled her to work in
the Kretzschmar lab, where she is part of a team exploring
optical properties caused by the patterning of various nano-
sized Janus particles in the air-water interface. This summer
she will continue her research work in colloids at the Royal
Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.
14
Luz Maria
Valdiviezo
BE, Chemical Engineering
Grove School of Engineering
“I was surprised to see how
driven students are to succeed
at CCNY and how willing they
are to go out of their way to
help incoming college students
accomplish their goals, too.”
Valdiviezo’s awards include the Patell Award for Academic
Excellence in Chemical Engineering and the 2018 SEEK
Engineering Award, and membership in Chi Alpha Epsilon
(XAE). She was also a recipient of the S Jay Levy Fellowship
for Future Leaders.
She wants to work as a chemical engineer in private industry
— perhaps in a company like Corning. But first Valdiviezo
plans to take a year off to work, and then complete a
doctorate in materials science.
Asked what surprised her most about her time at City
College, you might expect this first generation college
student to talk about the ten-hour days she spent in the lab.
Her answer— “I was surprised to see how driven students
are to succeed at CCNY and how willing they are to go out of
their way to help incoming college students accomplish their
goals, too.”
A n immigrant from China, Zhiying Zhu completed
her requirements for a BE in biomedical
engineering with a 3.91 GPA. It’s a crowning
achievement for the Class of 2018 Salutatorian after
overcoming adversity. Poverty forced her to work odd jobs
from age 13 after arriving in New York with her mother and
a young sister. “Although working two or more part-time
jobs and completing a rigorous engineering curriculum were
difficult, my passion for research and health care did not
diminish,” said Zhu. She gained both research and bedside
care experiences at several institutions, including CCNY,
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Regeneron
Pharmaceuticals, the University of Texas at Austin and the
National Cancer Institute. In her estimation, the technical
skills she acquired from these experiences prepared her for a
more engineering role in medicine.
Her accolades at CCNY include a NASA New York
Space Grant Fellowship, the Harold Shames Award for
Zhiying
Zhu
2018 Salutatorian
BE, Biomedicial Engineering
Grove School of Engineering
“Finding people just like
me coming from the same
socio-economic and ethnic
background, struggling with
English, but also having
and sharing the same
optimism for the future was
exhilarating.”
Undergraduate Excellence, a Colin Powell Fellowship in
Leadership and Public Service, and the Jewish Foundation
for Education of Women Scholarship. She’s been a Student
Support Services Program student since her freshman year
and received the Charlotte and Arthur Zitrin Scholarship
awarded to a select group of SSSP students.
A month after commencement, Zhu will sit for her MCAT
with the goal of pursuing an MD/PhD and a double career
as a medical doctor and researcher. Her dream is to merge
the gap between bench-side research and bedside care.
Needless to say, she considers her time at City College
transformational. “CCNY gave me the first opportunity
to explore, to try different things and not be judged,” she
said. “Finding people just like me coming from same socio-
economic and ethnic background, struggling with English,
but also having and sharing the same optimism for the future
was exhilarating. We were not born with silver spoons in our
mouths— CCNY just helped better our futures.”
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